Women’s rights activists from Kosovo, Serbia and Sweden sent a letter to High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, EEAS, Baroness Catherine Ashton on 4 Dec. regarding failures to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security during the ongoing talks between Kosovo and Serbia. Activists noted that women from civil society had not been included in the talks. Activists urged Baroness Ashton to: ensure that the principles of right to information, participation, and non-discrimination are observed in the dialogue; facilitate regular consultations with women’s organisations and civil society and include their input in the dialogue; request that government representatives of Kosovo and Serbia participate in civil society consultations; ensure that UNSCR 1325 is mainstreamed into any future agreements; consider supporting women groups financially and politically, as appropriate; and ensure that the governments of Kosovo and Serbia adopt and implement their national action plans on 1325, updating plans with targets related to the dialogue, in consultation with women groups.
The signatories of the letter, sent via Kvinna till Kvinna, included: Igballe Rogova fromKWN; Vetone Veliu from the Mitrovica Women’s Association for Human Rights; Stanislavka Zajović from Women in Black Belgrade; and Lena Ag from the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation in Sweden. The letter also was sent to the ambassadors of all EU member states. The full letter is available here.